James Lloyd Davis gave us a powerful tale from the Vietnam War, that could be any war, entitled "Butterfly Fingers."
Butterfly Fingers is a story about orphans in a war zone, about the soldiers who are probably the cause of their condition, but who become, as "occupiers," a source for both sustenance and survival as well as one of the few witnesses to their existence, their plight. Any veteran will recognize the concept of the 'fingers' ... both greedy and needy, the taps on your arms, the reaching, the touching, the pinching even, the gestures ... all of them are a cry for help even when offered in jest, with laughter ... laughter being a human emotional response to desperation. The reaching? It's a response to hunger. It's even a cry for love in a loveless place. Little fingers. Graceful, delicate fingers.
What makes this cause important to you?
War creates widows and orphans. It creates veterans and cripples and head cases. We don't often hear about the orphans, though, and my story attempts to give you a reminder about the fact that they are children. Little things. Innocent. Christ, they're everywhere, die by the trainload daily, from starvation, disease, neglect, and it feels like nobody really gives a damn! Sorry, it makes me angry as well as sad.
Tell us a bit about yourself and where to find more of your writing.
I'm just getting back to writing after a life-long detour where I was doing an awful lot of other things. You can read about me, my history, even read some of my work at the following web sites:
http://jameslloyddavis.com/ and http://www.fictionaut.com/users/james-lloyd-davis
What you have written is very powerful. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and I sincerely hope that our joint efforts can make a little difference.
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